Time Warner, KIII reach agreement

CORPUS CHRISTI - Facing a midnight deadline, Time Warner Cable and local ABC affiliate KIII have an agreement in principle in place that will maintain current programming between the station and the cable provider, a Time Warner spokesperson said Wednesday.

According to a press release, "This means Time Warner Cable customers in the Corpus Christi area will not miss any of their favorite ABC programs."

The two companies had been negotiating a retransmission consent agreement. KIII officials wanted Time Warner to pay for having the station on its lineup, said Vicki Triplett, a Time Warner spokeswoman.

If a deal had not been reached by midnight, the cable company would have been forced to stop broadcasting the ABC affiliate. The Federal Communications Commission requires that no station be broadcast without an active agreement.

KIII was pulled off the air in 1999, 2003 and 2006 by cable providers AT&T Time Warner, Heartland and Time Warner when retransmission agreements expired and new ones could not be reached.